Little Gold Men

Andrew Garfield Thinks Everyone Needs a Good Priest in Their Lives

The star of Hacksaw Ridge and Silence joins the Little Gold Men podcast to reveal how he found real Hollywood friends, how he survives the hubbub of awards season, and what Mel Gibson did to make his way back into the center of the industry.

He may not have taken the stage to win a statue for his nominated performance in Hacksaw Ridge, but Andrew Garfield had two moments at Sunday‘s Golden Globes that had everyone talking the next day. First there was the liplock, barely caught by the camera, he shared with Deadpool nominee Ryan Reynolds, just as Ryan Gosling took the stage for his own award. And then, when Gosling’s La La Land co-star Emma Stone won her own statue, Garfield was seen giving her a standing ovation—notable, given that Stone is his ex.

“We care about each other so much, and that’s a given, that’s kind of this unconditional thing,” he says on this week’s Little Gold Men podcast. “There’s so much love between us and so much respect [. . .] I’m her biggest fan as an artist. So for me, it’s been bliss to be able to watch her success and watch her bloom into the actress that she is. And it’s also been wonderful to have that kind of support for each other. It’s nothing but a beautiful thing.”

Garfield also tells hosts Mike Hogan, Richard Lawson, and Katey Rich about the various challenges of awards season and a life in Hollywood, where it’s very easy to “look for love in all the wrong places,” as Garfield puts it. Luckily, the guidance of everyone from Mike Nichols to Jonah Hill has helped him stay grounded. At the Golden Globes, he says, “I was overwhelmed that I had such sincere, authentic Hollywood friends. Which I don't think is a common occurrence. I had about seven or eight real, true anchors in that room and in the parties following. Emma of course is one, Claire Foy is another, Laura Dern. Eddie Redmayne, Jonah Hill . . . these are people that I actually love in a real, sincere way, and I believe they love me back. I was just struck with this deep gratitude.”

That support also comes from Hacksaw Ridge director Mel Gibson, whom Garfield says has “done that work, that very difficult, internal, transformative work“ toward self-improvement since the scandals that tarnished his public reputation in the last decade. To prepare to play Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who served as a medic in World War II and saved 75 lives in the Battle of Okinawa, Garfield learned about the Seventh Day Adventist faith; to play the Jesuit priest Rodrigues in Silence, Garfield met with Father James Martin, editor of America magazine and was profoundly affected by the experience. “Everyone needs a good priest in their lives,” he said. “He became my spiritual director, and introduced me to all things Jesuit.”

And Desmond Doss in particular continues to inspire Garfield, both in surviving the hubbub of awards season and in looking at what he hopes might drive our elected leaders in the near future. “Desmond Doss as a human being, everything that he was and everything that he symbolizes and personifies, especially in the times we’re in . . . the human qualities of humility, compassion, living a life of love and devotion and service to your fellow man. These are the things that I hope our president-elect wakes up to within himself at some point. We’ve got to hope, right?”

Listen below for our full conversation with Garfield, plus a conversation about the Golden Globes and the state of the Oscar race.